The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1887-01-28
What will YOu Have!

what VIII You Have!
The liquor question has been and still
is being so thoroughly agitated in social.
private, public and legislative bodies
that many well-wishers are perplexeI,
aud not few are beginning to think a
strict enforcement of the laws we have
would rebound to as much real good as
any new-fangIed structures would be
likely to evolve.
First among the prominent agitators
are the 2r1hibitionists, who want to
eradicate the traffic, root and branch, by
a peremptory edict, forever forbidding
it's manufacture and sale. II this could
be as successful as their dreams about
it, the ends desired might be accom-
p.ished but there are breakers in the
way. To totally prohibit the manufac-
ture of alcohol aud all spirituous liquors
would entail heavy loss on science and
medicine, and if the prohibition should
only extend to that used as a beverage,
how can they prevent portion of that
manufactured for scientific and mediei-
nal purposes being used as a beverage ?
Again, it is human nature to rebe!
against an interference OF personal lib
erty. When the law takes away discre-
tiorary. power from the citizen and
removes the privilege of exercising self
denial, the very traits of character fall
TINS into decay which, if developed,
would lead to reformation. moderation
and wisdom. It is the rough sea that
makes a good mariner, and it is also the
character that is trained to withstand
the alluremenTs of vice and turn away
from the siren voice Of temptation, that
becOmtS strong and invIncible.
lt is held by persons whose opinions
are not to be scoffed, that one-half the
money, brains and energy judiciously
applied in teaching the subject of TEN
peTance from a scientific standpoint,
showing the physical and moral Effects
Of excessive indulgence, would do far
more good than fondIing Prohibition
party, Good judgment ard true SINGER
ity in the cause would ltdt. tuem TO try
something more practical and immediate
in its results than the far-Off Prohibition
millennium.
High license advocates clsim-for Is
the virtue of wedding out many of the
lower order Of groggeries aud tipping
shops, whose only excuse for existence
is the furnishing of lntoxicants to un-
controlled appetites. By thus making
its sale exclusive it is claimed a halo of
greater respectability will be thrown
around the traffic and it's evils CORES
pOndingly decreased
On the other hand it is argued that
high license makes monopoly of the
business, favoTs the rich to the exclusion
of the poor and does not curtail the real
evils of the traffic, for a man can get
just as drunk at high-Iicensed bar as
at low-licensed one. Some even advo-
cate no license :Or the privilege of sell
ing it, claiming that the less restraint
thrown around it by law and, the more
NJ IN are thrown on their own honor and
responsibility, the sooner they would
learn TO place their appetites under con-
troll, instead Of having them controlled
by legal enactments. Coupled with this
is the requirement that all liquors man
ufactured and sold be"made pure aid
free from all poisonous ingredients.
This would require a close scrutiny over
the manufacturer of it and a rigid test
of all brands put up for sale. Any one
/ N ar I . q fT1r rTv1cr nI i
/ and selling it either by wholesale or re-
Tail, would be liable to heavy fines and
/ Imprisonment. Il is not without reason
claimed that crimes caused by drunken
/ ness can be attributed not so much to the
mere fact of iutoxicatior, as that the
intoxicatiou was produced by adultera-
ted liquors whose influence is damordI-
iz:ng, irritating and hendlsh, giving the
+ actions criminal tendency. Bad Uhis
kew instigates bad actions.
The anti-treating argument comes ia
for respectable share Of attention. in
considering this question. whose advo-
Gates claim that nine tenths of The
drunkenness would be avoided if The
custom Of treating could he abolished. .-
It's the appealing nvitation-"ComC
and have something that causes many
to drink when they had no idea of in
dulging. and the same appeal coming
consecutlyely from each member of thu
crowd soon gets all into an unsteady
ship. Do away with the treating, an,
no well-Iegulated, respectable man will
find himself forcing an acquaintanc,
with policeman's wheelbarrow.
All these and several other theorie
are advanced for the regulation of th
traffic in order to curtail its evils. bu
after all IS sal d AMI doGe there can he n
doubt that the law Of supply and demant
is the chief regulator of the traffic, an,
will so continue in spite of legislation
If the demand would stop, the suppl
would stop, and the manufacture of tn
uncalled:or commodity would cease an
there would be an end of it all. lie
every one draw his own conclusions an
make up his OWL mind what he Wi
have.
TuE Tinted Statee Capata ~, NEo,do